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New Taipei City – Fun Streets

Street Culture originated from the modern metropolises in the US and Europe and it comprises elements such as street dance, graffiti, rock ‘n roll music and rap. It is now very popular in many cultures, especially among teenagers all over the world. The street culture in Banqiao is also flourishing and can be seen at every corner of the city. Everyone can experience the charm and energy of street culture anytime, anywhere.

Since Banqiao Train Station opened to the public in 1999, its spacious layout has attracted many young people to practice dance and observe and learn from each other. It has become an ideal site for dance groups to practice and exchange skills with one another as well as fostered many great street dancers. Therefore, Banqiao has earned itself a reputation of “Dancing Mecca” and is the common memory of many dancers.

In order to develop the street dance culture, the local government has organized Street Dance Competitions for six consecutive years. The competitions have built up a great reputation and fame over the years. Since 2013, the scale of the activity has been expanded. Large-scale street culture activities as street dance, rap, graffiti, rock ‘n roll music and Beatbox were included in “2013 New Taipei City – Fun Streets”. This year, in addition to promoting the local street culture based on what has been accomplished so far, the local government also offers relevant experience-activities to allow the public to better understand the rich content and special charms of street culture, helping Banqiao become a foundation for street culture. Furthermore, to build new Taipei City into a young, energetic “new“ city through promoting street culture.

◆ Activities

1. Street Dance Promotion Courses

Street dance is not something that belongs to young people only, all age groups may join in street dance courses. The local government has targeted citizens from various age groups who have no prior experience with dance and offered a total of 78 free promotional courses (people from mid-low income families may sign up first) taught by professional street dance instructors from May to October. Via these courses, it is hoped that more people will be able to experience the fun and charm of street dance and this positive and energetic sport will improve citizens’ health as well as relax their minds. The available courses are as the following:

“ LOHAS Street Dance”

Target group: Citizens over 50 years old. Through moving their bodies with the music, the strength, reflexes and body coordination of elder citizens will improve, while allowing them to experience energies different from social dance and folk dance.

”MV Street Dance”

Target group: Working class over 18 years old. The aim is to build up participants’ bodies and release pressure through passionate pop MV dances.

“ Street Dance for Kids of New Immigrant Families”

Target group: 5-12 year-old kids of new immigrant families. A lively and energetic street dance course is offered to this group. New immigrant parents are invited to participate as well to strengthen the parent-child(ren) relationship through this activity.

“ Street Dance Summer Camp for Children”

Target group: Children under 13 years old. The local government has especially organized a children’s street dance summer camp to allow children to relax their bodies and minds and exhibit their vitalities through dynamic dance.

“ Hip-hop Street Dance”

Target group: Teenagers, 13-18 years old. The Hip-hop street dance entry level course is offered during summer vacation for teenagers deprived of dance opportunities due to economic or academic reasons a chance to experience the charm of street dance first hand.

2. Rock-n-Roll Sherlock

Applying the concept of rock-n-roll parties and using the summer elements as its symbol, this activity comprises four parts: china rose, flipflops, snow flake ice and ocean waves. Carrying on the passion of the Ho-hai-yan Rock Festival, the energies of rock-n-roll music are further extended to the urban area. In addition to inviting famous rock-n-roll bands, the champion of the Ho-hai-yan Rock Festival is invited to be the lead band of the party; furthermore, rap and Beat-Box shows are incorporated into each rock-n-roll party in hopes of bringing citizens diverse musical enjoyment through a combination of rock-n-roll music and street music.

The 1st Party – The China Rose Party

The China rose blossoms in summer and each and every rose represents the vitality and passion of youth. The local government has especially invited the local band “The Instinct” originated from Banqiao and the promising band “Mister Mouth” to participate in this party. They, as new rising stars, are going to bring the audience a pop rock-n-roll music show with English style. Also, the famous Beat-Box Taiwanese band-“Mouzik” will also be participating in the party, hoping to bring the audience an opening performance that is hard to forget with their unchained music enery.

The 2nd party - The Snow Ice Party

White snow ice is a must-have snack in summer. The local government has invited the rising star - retro psychedelic rock band “Soundboss” and the 2010 champion band of the Ho-hai-yan Rock Festival “ The Queen’s Suitcase “ to bring the audience a fantastic show. Both bands have female lead singers and they are famous for their elegant body movements and sweet voices. It is indeed a great example of rock-n-roll girl power that is a perfect combination of masculinity and femininity! In addition, the champion of the 2011 New Taipei City Rap Competition – “Shiwaga” is also invited to perform on stage offering the public a cool and relaxing light rock-n-roll feast in the hot summer days.

The 3rd Party – The Flipflops Party

A pair of flipflops are enough to take us walking around the hot tarred roads and warm white sands at the beach in summer. Flipflops are, without a doubt, a symbol of the hot Taiwan summer. The local government has invited the tribal champion “Generation 7” from Paiwan Tribe and the famous Punk Rock-n-Roll band – “FireEx. “ from southern Taiwan to bring locals their exciting musical style that contains self-retrospection and the faith to persist as both bands are known for expressing deep concepts and ideas through relaxing and soothing music in hopes to express their thoughts and attitudes to the audience while entertaining them so that ideas are not just ideas anymore and music is more than just music.

The 4th Party – The Ocean Wave Party

Ocean waves under the sun are one of the most beautiful sights of summer. For finale, the local government has invited the stars of the 2013 Ho-hai-yan Rock Festival “Chiu and Love“ and the popular hip-hop rock band “ 911”. Together, the strong, go-getter band and the humorous hip-hop band are going to take the audience on an experience of wave-like rock-n-roll music with their exciting and contagious charm on stage.

3.The International Street Dance Competition

Large-scale street dance competitions will be held from September to November, and world-renowned street dancers have been invited to participate in the competition. Furthermore, by promoting the event through a variety of channels in Taiwan, this competition has been elevated to Taiwan’s representative street dance competition as well as an international competition.

(1)Preliminary Competitions Preliminary competitions are held in Taipei and Kaohsiung. The organizer will also be working with other international street dance organizations to hold the New Taipei Bboy City international preliminary competition in at least three other countries to make sure it is a genuine international competition to increase its international fame.

(2)Special Qualification Competition: In order to allow foreign street dancers who are not able to come to Taiwan to participate in the event, a special qualification competition will be held on the day before the final competition to offer those foreign street dancers as well as dancers who did not pass the preliminary competition or those who missed the competition a final chance to win a ticket to the final competition.

(3)The Final Competition: The final competition will be held at the Citizen’s Square in New Taipei City this November. The local government intends to invite many foreign street dance masters as seed players to participate in the competition. At least 8 world-renowned street dance masters have been invited as judges and to do demonstrations in order to attract more domestic and foreign dancers to the event, allowing players in Taiwan a chance to enjoy the great performances and to compete with international top street dancers as well as to experience the charm of world-class street dance without going abroad.

(4)Street Trend Fairs: Street trend fairs will be held at the venues where the special qualification and final competitions are held. Brand-names and individual designers will set up stands to sell sportswear, hats, sneakers and street-culture-style accessories such as hip-hop hand-made necklaces and charm bracelets to spice up the entire event.

4.Street Graffiti

Graffiti and street dance are both part of the hip-hop culture. In order to allow the public to better know graffiti while promoting the concept of legal graffiti, the Banqiao City Hall has held a graffiti competition for three consecutive years. This year, the contest will be held in conjunction with the international street dance competition. An “experience graffiti camp” will also be set up to enhance the characteristics of the event, offering the public a chance to appreciate the amazing and splendid colors of graffiti while attending the lively and dynamic street dance competition.

(1)The Graffiti Competition

Online sign-up is available from August. Eight teams will be chosen by professional judges to enter the next level. On the day that the special qualification contest is held, a 120 square-meter big wooden wall will be set up at the Citizen’s Square in New Taipei City for those 8 teams to do graffiti at the scene to spice up the event, allowing the public to experience the special atmosphere of street culture.

(2) The Experience Graffiti CampApart from the wooden wall for the graffiti contest, a temporary graffiti wall made of translucent cellophane which may be replaced and overlapped anytime will be set up to create a unique visual effect on the streets while exhibiting diverse, unchained aspects of street art.